planing problem please help!!!!!!!!!!!

[rwoodcutter2]

I have a 19ft searay seville it has a 3 litre 4cyl omc my problem is that when i have more than two people in my boat it seems that it does not have enough power to plane i can maybe go 12-15 mph do you think that the pitch is wrong on my outdrive or could it be the carburator the motor runs great and smooth my compression is good as well,what do you think?

[baitsauce]

I have a 19ft searay seville it has a 3 litre 4cyl omc my problem is that when i have more than two people in my boat it seems that it does not have enough power to plane i can maybe go 12-15 mph do you think that the pitch is wrong on my outdrive or could it be the carburator the motor runs great and smooth my compression is good as well,what do you think?


Welcome to ifish. Since this is your first post a little story about yourself is the tradition here. Otherwise you'll never hear the end of it. :D

Sounds to me like the motor should have enough power, so I'm thinking the pitch on the prop isn't aggressive enough. :shrug:

[rwoodcutter2]

Welcome to ifish. Since this is your first post a little story about yourself is the tradition here. Otherwise you'll never hear the end of it. :D

Sounds to me like the motor should have enough power, so I'm thinking the pitch on the prop isn't aggressive enough. :shrug:

you say the prop may not be aggressive enough are you saying that i should go to a 15 degree pitch instead of the 17 degree i have now?

[No Reservations]

Is this boat new to you ? That is quite a bit of boat for that 4 cylinder motor. 15 pitch prop will help your hole shot but will reduce your top end. Moving people and gear forward out of the hole will help but may be something you may have to learn to deal with.

[Starfish]

For heavy loads it might be worth trying the 15 pitch prop. Also on a boat that is slightly underpowered, a hydrofoil stabilizer (fin that mounts on your cavitation plate) can improve getting on step. Finally, make sure you don't have any water trapped in the hull if it's a double fiberglass hull boat (pull both plugs and drain out any water).

[lostbackpacker]

I wouldn't do anything until you contact the manufac. If the boat is new to you, go get a major tuneup. Let the mechanic give you his opinion about the motor. The boat came from the factory with that setup. Start by getting the specs from the manufac so that you know what the boat should and shouldn't do. If you start replacing props or whatever, you will be chasing your tail and will have wasted money if it doesnt solve the issue.
I had a boat for about a year, I thought it ran excellent. top cruising speed was @ 24mph. I took it in to have a major tuneup over the winter. ie head gaskets, carbs rebuilt and sync., new thermostats, etc.... My top cruising speed was 36mph when I got it back. Sure I spent the money, but it was well worth it. :twocents:

[tallswedeone]

1st - Before diving into props you need to know what the wide open throttle range is for your engine as recommended by the manufacturer and then you need to know what your boat is turning RPM wise at wide open throttle. Then you can make a prop decision that is if everything else is working properly but I agree with the previous posts about looking at the prop as an easy place to start.

[fishkisser]

I have to ask ... Is the foam in your hull waterlogged and weighing you down ?...
Oh yea wheres the customary fish story , huh .... I can't here you ...:D

[rwoodcutter2]

1st - Before diving into props you need to know what the wide open throttle range is for your engine as recommended by the manufacturer and then you need to know what your boat is turning RPM wise at wide open throttle. Then you can make a prop decision that is if everything else is working properly but I agree with the previous posts about looking at the prop as an easy place to start.
Heres the issue in February we went to hood river sturgeon fishing with me a friend and my 3 kids and my boat took a couple of minutes then it got up to speed at 32-35 mph,then i went to odell lake for the opener with me, 3 friends and 2 kids, my boat would not plane max speed maybe 12 mph, my tach quit working but order a another,but when i open it full throttle it seemed to bogg down then i backed off throttle so it wouldn't bogg down,by the way we limited out on sturgeon all three days.any comments on the above statement?

[packer]

It isn't the boat or the engine its the 6000 ft change in elevation , you probably have a 10-15 % horsepower loss at Odell Lake , if you fish the high lakes much you need to drop at least 2" in pitch

[fishkisser]

:agree:

Engine horsepower will decrease approximately 3.5% for each 1,000 foot increase in altitude...

[Lead Bouncer]

If you want to kill boat speed, put people up in front. If you like speed, then keep them toward the back. After you watch a twenty foot bass boat with 2 or 3 feet of boat in the water, youll know, why they are the fastest hull on the water.

Use to hit a couple big lakes in a 14 foot alumacraft. Storm came up and I got up in front. I had to pull the tarp over me it was so wet. Had I ridden in back with the old man, we would not have been plowing the lake.

[No Reservations]

Leadbouncer
Great advice about getting out of the front after getting up on plain not so much when try to get out of the hole though. I think it is obvious this boat is a little underpowered worse at elevation but nothing that can't be overcome with a little load adjustment. A friend of mine has a 22 foot northriver with a yamaha 150 he switches to a lower pitched prop when he goes to the high lakes helps his hole shot quite a bit. Just watch your rpms with the new prop and enjoy your day on the water.